Anastasia
by Johanna-002
Summary: Clarisse is jealous again. "I tried not to let this bother me. Every woman that had ever met Joseph found him attractive. I did as well. But it did annoy me how they were talking about my husband and imagining him with no clothes on." Please Read and Review! One-Shot! Complete!


**Title: **Anastasia

**Summary:** Clarisse is jealous again. "I tried not to let this bother me. Every woman that had ever met Joseph found him attractive. I did as well. But it did annoy me how they were talking about my husband and imagining him with no clothes on."

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Princess Diaries, nor do I own Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, I also do not own any of the Cast members. They belong to Meg Cabot and Disney & all of the other respectful owners. I do however own my writing, so please don't steal Johanna-002©.

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-01-

_Stupid thirst!_ I thought, annoyed, as I walked through the halls towards the kitchen. I was surprising Joseph today. I had been on a diplomatic trip with Amelia in Germany for the last week.

The sound of my heels against the cold hard floor echoed through the corridor. It seemed pretty quiet today, but this was the family corner, and some parts of the palace were nosier than others.

At this corner, Lionel stood. He looked up and watched me as I walked forward but I was in too much of a rush to remind him that staring with your mouth wide open was rude. He seemed to do that a lot.

"Hello," He said slowly, looking at me up and down.

I sighed. "Hello, Lionel. Have you seen Joseph?"

"Oh, no I haven't but Joey is around here somewhere!" He stood up straight; his voice took on a warning tone. "I'd reevaluate the staff, Your Majesty, the maids around have been trying everything and anything to make Joey single again."

Reevaluate my staff… most definitely. Sorry Mr. Prime Minister, but your Nephew may need to seek another form of employment.

I laughed. "I think I can handle a couple of jealous maids that have nothing better to do than stare at my husband. Now, have you any idea where he may be?"

"In the security hub; while you are there will you ask him if I can leave? He has me standing in the most pointless of places. Why would I guard the kitchen- to protect the cheese?"

I nodded. "Thank you for your help, Lionel. I'll speak with Scott and Joseph for you."

He smiled. "Your welcome, and thank you Your Majesty."

Something was seriously wrong with that boy.

I headed towards the stairs and found myself counting each step on my way down. There were nineteen.

I missed my husband terribly, and I would have preferred to not have had to go look for him… but he didn't know I was home. If I could cook I would have made a cake or something for when Joseph came home- it would have been a nice surprise to top my surprise homecoming.

While away I had been away I had picked him up a few things: A couple of new suits and a pair of shoes… I had even managed to get my hands on some… naughty items… I figured the two of us could indulge fully in a little more excitement in the bedroom- maybe even out of the bedroom.

I had always wandered what it would be like to make love in the swimming pool… and maybe even on the stairs.

Clarisse, stop.

I paused just outside of the security hub. A group of chatty maids could be heard from were stood a little further down the corridor. I could hear them as clearly as if they were standing right in front of me.

"Joseph looks beyond amazing in dark jeans; or am I the only one who thinks so?" The sandy blonde asked.

Her friends agreed and one with ginger hair sighed longingly and said, "He looks amazing in anything; or in nothing."

"Hailey!" Her friends exclaimed but they were smiling and I knew they were picturing the same thing Hailey was picturing in her mind.

I tried not to let this bother me. Every woman that had ever met Joseph found him attractive. I did as well. But it did annoy me how they were talking about my husband and imagining him with no clothes on.

A low growl rippled from my throat.

They continued to talk.

"Is it sad that I secretly hope his marriage doesn't last."

"Please, the bedazzling, bejeweled woman has him wrapped around her solitaire finger… Although, he is very close with Ms. Anastasia…"

Anastasia? I'd never heard of her before. There were so many employees in this damn palace. Maybe she was the new kitchen maid Amelia had hired a couple of months ago.

"Think maybe there is something going on between them? They are always talking on her breaks… well, when he's not with Her Majesty that is."

"Diana, stop, Joseph is not the man to cheat on his wife."

She scoffed, "If Joseph pursued me I would not think twice. He's the most handsome man in the world!"

I had to agree with that.

My blood boiled to a new level. By the end of the week I would see to it that Diana be unemployed.

"Anastasia is… I have no words. Beautiful is an understatement when it comes to her."

"Look, there they are." The brunette gestured to the other end of the corridor.

I saw Joseph first, my eyes instantly landed on him. He looked amazing, just like the maids had said, and those jeans…. Yes, he looked mighty delicious.

He was talking to someone, leaning against the wall with one shoulder in a relaxed position; I had never seen him in such a comfortable way when he was in work, not even when he was with me.

That didn't help my annoyance.

The girl he was talking to was wearing a Laundry Maids uniform with the skirt pulled up higher than normal, just about an inch higher than the middle of her thighs. She had one hand on her hip and the other in her hair as she nodded along to what Joseph was saying.

Their bodies were so close that they were only roughly fifteen centimeters apart.

Was I jealous? I had heard the maids talk about my husband and I hadn't felt as jealous as I did now.

I actually felt sick as I watched them disappear into a different office and close the door behind them. I hurried away, ignoring the glances I got from the maids.

X-X-X

I was still laughing in my head about the joke Anastasia had told me as I walked into the glamorous suite I know shared with my wife. Clarisse wasn't there to greet me, she was probably still in Germany, hopefully she will be home real late tonight or very early in the morning.

The smell of my wife engulfed me. I quickly undid my watch, took it off and slipped out of my shoes. "Clarisse?" I called. Our suite smelled very present of her apple and cinnamon body wash. Was she home already?

I walked further into the living area and she wasn't there. A smashed vase was on the carpet. What the hell had happened here?

She wasn't in our private library or out on the Terrance.. The last place I checked was our bedroom. She sat there at the end of the bed, in a criss-cross-apple sauce style, staring at her hands which were in between her legs.

"Hello, darling. I'm so glad your home!" I greeted her and started unbuttoning my shirt, hoping that in a few seconds she would do it for me. She didn't she stayed where she was. I pulled the top over my head and put it neatly on the bed beside her. She didn't even look at me as I did this and I bent down to kiss her cheek softly. She just sat there.

Confused, I went back to the wardrobe and picked out a casual shirt to wear. I went to sit beside her on the bed and placed one arm around her. She moved out of my hold instantly.

"Clarisse, what's wrong?" I asked, nervous and worried. Was she alright? Had something happened while she was in Germany?

"I went looking for you throughout the palace. I wanted to surprise you." She mumbled.

Had she? I hadn't seen her. "When?"

"Around lunch time; I was missing you terribly. My plane had just landed and I wanted to see you."

"Shades would like to let Lionel go, I was helping him with a draft of reason for he could present it to Amelia and then I left; I wish we would have crossed ways; I missed you so much."

She swallowed. "I...I saw you."

"Why didn't you walk over?"

"You were with that girl, that laundry maid, Anastasia."

Oh. "You should have come over and said hello." Anastasia was the only other female palace employee, aside from charlotte, that had a brain. She was very nice and would have gotten along well with Clarisse.

"I...I saw you two go into an office and shut the door. I left after that."

Oh no.

"Clarisse, it's not what you think. We're just-"

She jumped to her feet. "Don't you dare say "we are just friends!" She shouted. "Some maids were talking about the two of you chat it up pretty often, and when I saw you going into that office, I just felt so mad and upset."

"Clarisse, please listen to me. It's not that. We are friends, close friends, but I would never ever cheat on you. Anastasia is just my friend."

She was shaking her head. "What were you doing in that office with her?"

"We were talking about Lionel and having a life at his expense. To put it frank, right now, she's better company than you."

"Oh, what's that supposed to mean? Would you rather be with her right now than me?"

"Of course not; I just meant that she doesn't have a go at me for talking to another woman."

"She isn't your wife!"

"Clarisse, this is crazy! I love you and you only. Anastasia and I are good friends but that is it. I would never dream of cheating on you in a million years. I'm sorry you got the wrong idea. Please listen to me. Anastasia and I do talk often, and I can see how some people might get the wrong idea, but nothing has happened. Nothing will ever happen." He squeezed her knee. "She's engaged. But besides that, I take my vows seriously Clarisse. Have more faith in me."

"Oh please, she would happily call off her wedding plans to be with you. In fact, I bet she wants to dump her fiancée anyway!"

"Clarisse, you're overreacting."

"Of course I am! I have to be! I just watched some girl flirt with my husband!"

I sighed. "Anastasia wasn't flirting."

"Then why was her skirt pulled up so high and why was she playing with her hair?"

I didn't know what to say about that, so I did the next thing that popped into my mind. I sprang to my feet, placed my hands on either side of her face and rushed my lips against hers, kissing her passionately. She was stunned. I used her moment of shock to push her backwards so her back was against the wall. I parted our lips for a second, kissed her again, and then started to kiss her neck.

Her hands were on my chest but she didn't pull off my shirt like I thought she would. Instead she pushed me backwards and wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

"That's not how I want to solve things, Joseph."

"Well you're not exactly giving me time to explain."

She looked as if she was about to cry. I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around her. "Clarisse, please, please, please listen to me. I love you. I've always loved you and I always will. I love you more than anything in the world, with all my heart. I'd die for you. I've never cheated on you and I never will. Anastasia is just my friend. I don't think about her as anything but a friend. I love you."

"I'm...I'm so sorry." She whimpered against my chest. "I don't know what got over me."

"Jealousy can be a good thing. It shows how much you care about someone."

She held me tighter, locking her arms around me.

"You know what we could do to relax?" I asked, winking at her as she looked up.

"I don't think what you have in mind is relaxing," She put her finger on my lips as I opened them to protest. "But… okay, we'll go with your plan." She disappeared into her massive closet and came back out a few minutes later dressed as a sexy police officer, handcuffs dangling from around her left pointer finger.

I made my way over to her quickly. She was one law I was always ready and willing to abide by.

X-X-X

The sun rose and the golden rays flooded into the room. Clarisse's skin seemed to literally sparkle. I kissed the bare skin of her shoulder. We were lying on the bed, the thin blankets covering the more private areas of our body. She was resting with her head on my chest and her right leg brushing my left one. She sighed with content.

"I don't deserve you." I told her against her skin before punctuating the sentence by kissing her neck and nuzzling it playfully.

"And to have you as my husband, I feel like I'm the luckiest woman on the world." She said, tracing her finger up and down my chest, making me shiver.

"I have a surprise for you," I said, suddenly remembering.

She looked up at me. "What is it?"

I leaned over to my night stand. I opened the drawer and pulled the old piece of jewelry from right on top. I dangled the necklace in front of her.

Her eyes widened. "Joseph?" I took great pride in seeing her eyes moist with tears, she took the piece of jewelry from me and I could tell that immediately she was in love with it.

The gold chain was a little dingy from age, but the emerald tear shaped stone was just as beautiful as ever. Clarisse was in love with all things jewelry. She knew almost every piece. This one puzzled her.

"I was going through some things… My mother's things, while you were gone. I found an old necklace of hers. I want you to have it."

She smiled, and linked it around her neck. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back with my beautiful wife straddling me. There was nothing sexier than the woman I loved naked, and on top of me. She only wore two items: The necklace and her wedding ring.

My wife, my love, my one and only,

**Author's Note: **Please Review good, bad or constructive.


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